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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27823135">If You Wanna Be With Me, There’s a Price To Pay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayward_sherlock/pseuds/wayward_sherlock'>wayward_sherlock</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Clubbing, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Humor, Language, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Relationship(s), Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:40:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,380</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27823135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayward_sherlock/pseuds/wayward_sherlock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After an especially crazy case, Team Free Will decides to go to a bar to let loose. </p>
<p>What could go wrong, right? And besides, Dean loves bars...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>86</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>If You Wanna Be With Me, There’s a Price To Pay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys!! This is my first fic, so please enjoy!! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was all Sam’s fault.</p>
<p>Dean considered himself to be petulant, and decided right then and there that his little brother ruined everything.</p>
<p>Sam had found this bar on Google maps, his gargantuan hands clicking away at the little keys on his new phone (his last one had been crushed by an anti-industrialism ghost; they had decided as a group to not speak of it ever again.) “It’ll be fun!” He’d said, sounding all too much like a little kid begging to go to an amusement park. “It’s a bar, Dean, c’mon.” </p>
<p>“Dean, you do love alcohol, no matter how many times I try to dissuade you.” Cas said from the back seat. Dean <em> hrmphed </em> at this. He didn’t need to be judged by the angel, he was already judged enough by his sasquatch of a brother. “Besides, what harm could be done? You have picked every bar so far this week, I believe it’s only fair Sam picked at least one.”</p>
<p>Dean resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Cas.<em> Asshole. </em></p>
<p>“Fine, whatever, but I don’t need you acting like my mother, Cas. Sam already does that enough for the both of you.” Sam ignored the jab and hummed along happily to the song on the radio, causing Dean to look over at Sam in surprise. Sam never liked the music Dean picked.</p>
<p>“<em> ...try to understand. Oh, oh, try, try, try to understand, He's a magic man...” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dean pulled into the bar seventeen minutes and thirty nine seconds later. (Siri had said it would take them twenty two minutes, but Dean wasn’t known for following speed limits. He enjoyed proving Sam’s stupid little phone wrong. <em> Suck it, Siri. </em>) Cas looked a little frazzled, and honestly, Dean couldn’t blame him.</p>
<p>The bar’s exterior was modern, all crazy geometric shapes and tin and metal where tin and metal were unnecessary. The bar was called <em> Genie in a Bottle, </em> which immediately conjured up thoughts of YouTube music videos, alcohol, and bad decisions. Dean shivered in the warm humidity of the night. </p>
<p>    “Are you cold, Dean?” Cas asked, and before Dean could answer, Dean felt something warm around his shoulders. He looked down and realized he was wearing the angel’s trademark trench coat. </p>
<p>Cas’ eyes widened a bit when he saw Dean, and Dean returned the gesture. He rarely ever saw Cas without his coat, just in his plain suit, and he looked so rumpled and naked and <em> hot </em>that Dean had to look away to avoid a blush. Sam watched the whole interaction with amusement. </p>
<p>    “If you guys are done staring soulfully into each other’s eyes, I would like to go inside and get drunk now,” Sam commented, his voice unnaturally bright. Dean flipped him off, but his giant little brother had already opened the door and was holding it ajar. Dean rushed inside before he realized he was still wearing the trench coat. </p>
<p>    The inside of the bar was loud and dark, usually two aspects that Dean enjoyed. Tonight, after the-ahem-<em> incident </em> outside, he wasn't feeling especially rowdy. (All he really wanted to do was grab a bottle of whiskey and down it.) Bass was causing vibrations to rattle Dean's bones, and there was a wave of bodies slamming together to the beat. </p>
<p>    "Hello there! No admission without awesome body paint!” A very enthusiastic voice said from the corner, and Dean whirled around to find a tall brunette woman smiling at them. She had tattoos covering her arms and what Dean could see of her chest over her black tank top. Dean turned on the charm as he walked over to her. </p>
<p>    "Hey there. Would you do me the honors of painting me?" Dean asked, leaning an elbow on the table in front of her. The woman smiled, but as she was opening her mouth to answer, her eyes widened comically and she stuttered out a response of "Um, only people in your group can paint you, sorry, sir.” She turned and walked quickly to a door behind the bar. </p>
<p>    "Huh, that was weird.” Dean said, turning and coming face to face with Cas. <em> "Dude. </em> " Cas licked his lips before answering, and Dean followed the movement with his eyes before he realized what he was doing. <em> No. Bad Dean. </em></p>
<p>    "I'll paint you, Dean." Dean tried to ignore the fact that the way Cas said his name sent shivers down his spine. Dean nodded, taking a nervous step back, before turning to find the paint. </p>
<p>    "I told you guys it would be fun!” Sam smiled as he painted a neon pink streak down his cheek, the paint glowing in the dark of the bar. </p>
<p>    "C'mere, Cas.” Dean said, pointedly ignoring his brother. He chose blue paint, and drew a swirl on the angel's cheek. The color brought out his eyes, just like Dean involuntarily knew it would, and he was quick to get some gold to draw a circle on the length of Cas’ forehead. Dean took a step back, putting his index fingers and thumbs together in a rectangle to look at Cas. He <em> then </em> realized that the gold looked like a <em> fucking halo </em>, and cursed his subconciousness for making the angel look absolutely stunning. </p>
<p>Dean stood still (in terror or anticipation, he wasn’t sure) as Cas stepped forward with green paint on his finger and drew a dot right in between Dean's eyebrows. Dean felt the confusion on his face, and Cas murmured softly, "I didn't want to cover your freckles.”</p>
<p>Dean laughed humorlessly before whipping around to the bar and calling to the bartender for some shots. <em> He was gonna need them.  </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few drinks later, Dean winced as the music suddenly stopped. He looked to his left, where Sam was sitting a moment ago, and saw nothing but empty space. Everything in the bar flashed bright, until he was sitting in the Roadhouse. </p>
<p>"What the hell?" Dean asked no one in particular. Next to him, he heard a rustle, and when he turned he saw Cas. The angel's paint was gone, but he was glowing golden in the soft light of the Roadhouse. </p>
<p>"Hello, Dean.” Cas said, his gravelly voice rumbling in the quiet. </p>
<p>"Cas? What the hell? What happened to the bar?” Dean said, moving over to Cas. The other flinched slightly as Dean got closer, before he took a deep breath. </p>
<p>"I love you, Dean." </p>
<p>Dean stumbled backwards like he had been pushed, knocking over barstools and empty beer bottles on his way down. "What the fuck, Cas?"</p>
<p>Cas smiled sweetly, too sweetly. "I love you, Dean. I'll always love you." Dean looked up at the angel as his eyes lit up icy blue, the telltale sign of being stabbed with an angel blade. A speck of red appeared at the front of Cas’ wrinkled white button up, and it slowly grew until he was thoroughly soaked with blood.</p>
<p>Cas looked down at Dean with empty, burned out eyes as he repeated himself. "I love you."</p>
<p>The door to the Roadhouse opened and Sam stumbled in, his hair (Dean would call it "luscious", as it was the only word that accurately described the sasquatch's hair, but Sam had been insisting it was luscious so Dean refused to comply) ratted wildly as he whipped his head around to look at Dean.</p>
<p>"Dean?" Sam asked as he approached carefully. "Is that really you?" </p>
<p>Dean nodded, still too shaken by <em> whatever </em> had happened with Cas. Sam walked towards him like Dean was a wounded animal, and honestly, Dean felt it was warranted. </p>
<p>"Tell me something only you would know," Sam said. He glanced at Cas and all the color drained from his face, as the angel was still repeating "I love you, Dean," and looking at Dean with empty, burned out eye sockets. </p>
<p>"Uh-when you were in seventh grade, I crashed your middle school dance to hit on the chaperones because I was bored." Dean grimaced at the memory. It was not a highlight of his life. Sam winced too, before enveloping Dean in a literal bear hug.</p>
<p> "Dude, what the hell is going on? I was getting attacked by clowns wearing calendars that were stuck on Tuesday. The clowns had <em> chainsaws, </em>Dean." Dean would've laughed hysterically if it weren't for the situation, so the best he could manage was to pat Sam's shoulder mechanically. </p>
<p>"I-I got no idea, man. Cas just-" Dean couldn't continue around the lump in his throat. “I don’t know.”</p>
<p>He felt a burning sensation right between his eyebrows, Sam clawed at his cheek. "Ow!" Dean hissed. His jaw unhinged as realization struck.</p>
<p>"The paint!" Both brothers said at the same time, looking at each other with wide eyes. </p>
<p>"It's gotta be some kind of djinn. But these aren't g-good dreams. These are fucking nightmares!" Dean said, motioning towards the angel, who had slumped against the bar, cheek squished against the wood, mumbling "I love you, Dean."</p>
<p>"Maybe it's a djinn, but they feed off our nightmares?" Sam suggested, positioning himself between Dean and the bar. </p>
<p>"Whatever, I'm getting out of here." Dean said, grabbing a knife from a nearby table. “The only way to get out of a djinn dream is to kill yourself, right?” He waved the knife around animatedly, before plunging it into his stomach with a grunt, eyes closed. He was expecting to wake up in the bar they had entered earlier, but when he opened his eyes, Sam was looking at him with concern. </p>
<p>Dean looked down, where there was no mark on his stomach, no knife, no blood. <em> Shit.  </em></p>
<p>"How do we get out of here, Sam? I want out! Get me out of here!” Dean said, panicking a little. (Okay, a lot, but who wouldn't panic if they were stuck in their worst nightmare?) He began clawing frantically at his shirt, desperate to <em> get the fuck out of there. </em></p>
<p>"Dean, I have no idea. Maybe we have to face our fears? I got no clue, man." Sam said, pulling at his (luscious) hair. "What scares you the most of this whole situation?"</p>
<p>Dean froze and looked at Sam like he was out of his mind. What scared him the most? </p>
<p>It was actually a decent angle to cover. Dean mulled it over. Cas was dead. That scared him. Dean was stuck in a nightmare he often had, causing him to wake up to Sam holding down his shoulders as Cas whispered Enochian to him. That scared him. But what scared him the most?</p>
<p>"I love you, Dean." Cas whispered from behind Sam. Dean blanched. <em> That </em>was what scared him. </p>
<p>He was paralyzed by his feelings. He was scared that Cas was going to say something extremely chick-flicky some day (like say, <em> hypothetically, </em> "I love you, Dean.") and Dean would do something to fuck it up. What if Cas finally admitted his feelings for Dean and Dean was so emotionally constipated that he did something stupid, like finger guns, in response? What if the angel had no idea he loved him? What if Cas <em> died </em> , for real, someday, and Dean never told him how he felt? <em> That </em> was what terrified him. </p>
<p>It soon occurred to Dean that he said none of this out loud. He cursed for Sam to hear before pushing past his brother to look at the man slumped against the bar. </p>
<p>"I think we have to face our fears, Sammy." Dean said quietly, before turning to Cas. </p>
<p>"I love you, too, Cas. You gorgeous, fantastic, oblivious son of a bitch." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dean woke up with his face pressed into the cold metal of the <em> Genie in a Bottle </em>bar. (The name should've been a dead give away, but Dean was too busy racing an AI to notice.) He groaned, lifting his head in time to see Sam taking a silver knife out of the brunette hostess' abdomen. Dean sat up all the way, his back cracking in multiple places (damn, he was getting old) as he stretched. </p>
<p>"Hello, Dean." </p>
<p>Dean turned around to see the angel putting two fingers to his forehead, and Dean could feel a cold seeping into his veins. He suddenly felt a lot better, and realized Cas was looking pale. <em> His grace? </em></p>
<p> “Cas, man, sit down. Are you okay?” Dean put an arm around Cas and led him towards a chair. The angel leaned heavily onto Dean, before collapsing into the metal chair.</p>
<p>Dean looked around the now empty- <em> wait, what?- </em> bar, and made an executive decision. He pulled up a chair, scooted forward with an <em> extremely </em> annoying sound that could be compared to nails on a chalkboard until he was knee to knee with the angel who seemed to be only half-aware of his presence. </p>
<p>“Cas, what happened?”</p>
<p>Cas looked up at Dean with bloodshot eyes, the red only serving to make the azure in his eyes pop. He took a shuddering breath.</p>
<p>“There was a djinn. Sam killed it.” Cas said matter-of-factly. Dean shook his head in frustration, putting what he hoped was a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Dean’s voice came out harder than he meant it to, like a mother scolding her blubbering child. He softened it a bit before continuing. “Where’d you go, Cas? Where’d the djinn take you? Because no offense, but you look like shit.”</p>
<p>So much for the kind, soothing friend.</p>
<p>
  <em> Oh well. </em>
</p>
<p>Cas looked up at Dean again, his gaze making Dean’s heart simultaneously skip a beat and shatter into a million pieces. The angel looked solemnly over Dean’s shoulder, at where Dean presumed Sam was standing, giving his brother and their angel space. Cas looked back at Dean and a single tear fell down his face.</p>
<p>“I woke up and I-I found Sam. H-he was dead,” Cas said, which, okay, that wasn’t what Dean was expecting, but he would be pretty torn up about finding Sam’s abnormally large dead body, too. “Then I looked up, and you-“ Cas’ voice broke as his lip quivered.</p>
<p>“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here.”</p>
<p>Cas nodded slowly at this sentiment before continuing. “You told me I was useless, and then walked away. I tried to follow you. I tried, Dean, I really did, but then I watched you die. You were<em> murdered, </em>and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” </p>
<p>Castiel burst into tears. Dean grabbed his head and gently maneuvered it until the angel was crying into his shoulder.</p>
<p>Dean could feel Cas’ tears dripping onto his shirt, the angel’s grace seeping into his skin through the small drops of water. When he pulled Cas up to eye level, the other’s eyes were glistening metallic with both unshed tears and the grace that was escaping through his sorrow. </p>
<p>“You, Castiel, are anything but useless. You’re always there for me, man, <em> always </em>. Do you realize how much you make me laugh, or how much Sam and I need you to keep us from slitting each other’s throats?” Dean gestured loosely in Sam’s general direction. Cas’ ocean irises flitted back and forth between Dean’s eyes, searching for any sign of deceit and maybe even something else. Dean took a deep breath.</p>
<p>“I will never, ever leave you, alright, Cas? And God help who or whatever tries to kill me, because when I come back I will be majorly pissed. And I know <em> you-“ </em> Dean gently poked a finger into Cas’ chest, the angel’s grip tightening on Dean’s wrists. “-and Sam will avenge my death in some fucking awesome way that will make me proud. But I won’t go and get myself murdered anytime soon, and I definitely won’t leave someone I love. So <em> you </em> don’t need to worry.”</p>
<p><em> Oh shit. He said it. </em> Dean dropped Cas’ ever-widening gaze in favor of his shoes. He could hear Sam walking up behind them, slowly, but surely. Dean mentally stage whispered at Sam that if he <em> ever </em> said <em> anything </em> about Dean getting all sappy, Dean would-</p>
<p>Cas interrupted Dean’s mental tirade on his brother with a soft nudge underneath his jaw. Dean looked up at the angel sheepishly, ready to say something extremely platonic to counterbalance his accidental-on-purpose declaration of love, but just as he was forming words, Cas pressed his lips onto Dean’s.</p>
<p>It was a soft kiss, gentle, tender, like Cas still wasn’t sure if Dean wanted this, giving him space to pull away. Dean sighed happily and leaned into it, putting one hand on the angel’s shoulder and intertwining the other in the soft, tenebrous curls at the base of Cas’ neck. Cas framed Dean’s jaw with his hand, and Dean was about to add his tongue to the mix when Sam cleared his throat.</p>
<p>“Guys, sorry to interrupt, but can we get the hell out of here?”</p>
<p>Dean cursed as he pulled away. He had gotten so caught up in Cas that he had forgotten his brother was there.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, I’ll find us a motel, since <em> you </em> picked this God forsaken bar. They didn’t even have a decent tequila.” Dean put his hands on his knees and pushed himself into a standing position, swaying slightly from said tequila and the overflow of emotions he had been subject to in the past few hours. “Stupid Siri. I’m telling you, Sammy, the robots <em> will </em>take over the world, and even we won’t be able to stop them.”</p>
<p>Ok, so maybe Dean was blabbering a little bit. The logic centers in his brain had been fried with the pure electricity that had flowed through him when Cas pressed his lips onto Dean’s. Cas hadn’t said anything, he was just sitting there, and Dean wasn’t sure whether to be smug or embarrassed. </p>
<p>“Oookay, then. I’ll meet you guys outside.” Sam stretched out the “o”, then turned on his heel towards the door. Before he stepped out, though, he smirked over his shoulder and whispered what Dean thought was “I knew it!” </p>
<p>Dean rolled his eyes and was about to follow his brother when he felt a slight pressure on his wrist. He froze, muscles tightening, his blood pumping loudly in his ears.</p>
<p>“Where did <em> you </em>go?”</p>
<p>The question was warranted, but it struck Dean as so incredibly <em> random </em> that he let out a huff of laughter. </p>
<p>“I’ll tell you all about it in the car, Cas. Although it was pretty-uh-pretty-“ Dean trailed off and scratched the back of his neck. He turned to look Cas out of the corner of his eye, his body at a forty five degree angle between the door and the-<em> his- </em>angel. “Y’know that nightmare I keep having? I went there.” </p>
<p>Cas nodded immediately, making Dean wonder if Cas had the ability to watch his dreams. He blanched. Dean sure <em> hoped </em>not, because he was only human, and he couldn’t help it if every so often a very specific angel made a guest appearance in some not-so-angelic positions. </p>
<p>The thought immediately embarrassed Dean so thoroughly that he blushed and briskly turned towards the door. He had his hand on the door handle when Cas’ voice over his shoulder stopped him dead in his tracks.</p>
<p>“Dean?”</p>
<p>Dean felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up with the implication, the idea of there being something <em> more- </em></p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“I love you, too.”</p>
<p>Dean turned around slowly, focusing his eyes on his angel, who was now standing. Dean looked at the halo and swirl of paint on his face from earlier; the rumpled trench coat that had somehow managed to make itself back onto its rightful owner in the midst of alcohol, magic, and sappy love confessions; his tousled black hair; his ocean blue eyes that were staring back at him. Dean grinned like an idiot at Cas, not really sure what to say, as his mind randomly decided to listen to the <em> Dean’s Bad Decisions </em>playlist. </p>
<p>“Come on, sunshine, let’s go get some rest.”</p>
<p>Cas beamed back at Dean as they both went outside into the crisp air, song lyrics bouncing around in the back of Dean’s brain. Before he opened the door to Baby, he looked back at the bar and gave in, singing <em>one</em> <em>line </em>of the song that had been nagging at him.</p>
<p>“<em> I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, Come, come, come on and let me out.” </em></p>
<p> ~<em> Fin </em>~</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you guys liked it! Special thanks to IAmSorry__sendmeaprompt for the beta and all the help:)<br/>You made it this far, might as well leave a comment and kudos...:p</p></blockquote></div></div>
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